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What can you do with a rock-hard loaf of bread? Besides using it as a doorstop, there are countlessrecipes that take advantage of stale bread — or you can use one of these simple techniques to soften it quickly…
In the oven: Preheat oven to 200° or Warm setting. Wrap the bread in a damp (not soaking) towel, place on a baking sheet, and pop it in the oven for 5-10 minutes.
In the microwave: Wrap the bread in a damp (not soaking) towel, place it on a microwave-safe dish, and microwave on high for 10 seconds. Check and repeat if necessary.
In both cases, keep a close eye things so the bread doesn’t overcook and the towel doesn’t catch fire!
Do you have any other tips for softening hard bread?
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.Take the loaf of bread and wrap it in some aluminum foil to retain moisture.Bake on a baking sheet for anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes--baking time will depend on the efficiency of your oven. Take out of the oven and serve warm, or let the bread cool to room temperature if necessary.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.Take the loaf of bread and wrap it in some aluminum foil to retain moisture.Bake on a baking sheet for anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes--baking time will depend on the efficiency of your oven. Take out of the oven and serve warm, or let the bread cool to room temperature if necessary.
As bread starts to cool, however, water leaves the starch and moves into other parts of the mixture, allowing starch molecules to return to their crystallized state. It's this recrystallization – not drying – that makes bread go hard, and it happens even in humid conditions.
The flour you used may have contained too much protein. Protein is one of the ingredients that help yeast bread brown. Use bread flour that is purchased at a grocery store or a national brand of all-purpose flour.
Set a timer on your stove, microwave, or phone for about 6 minutes, and check on your bread after the timer is up. Your loaf should be warm and soft. If your loaf is very wet, you may need to extend the cooking time to 10-12 minutes.
In microwave heating, the starch of the bread is re-gelatinised. That is to say, the starch molecules bind to water molecules, which sort of dissolve or plasticise the starch, making the texture of the bread softer overall. One of the properties of microwaves is that they are absorbed by water.
Reddi-Sponge is a reducing agent made with dairy whey and L-cysteine and I bet that 6% level really gave you a soft and extensible dough. The best suited product for your application is an additive co*cktail made with SSL (sodium stearoyl lactalate) and distilled mono-diglyceride.
Final answer: Baking soda is used to make bread soft and spongy. Q. Baking soda is used in small amount in making bread and cake. It helps to make these soft and spongy.
"Staling" is a natural process that occurs when the water and starch molecules that were made spongy during baking begin to rearrange themselves once the bread has cooled.
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